With college costs expanding across the nation, Central Michigan University students are increasingly feeling financial impact from the purchase of text books.

According to a report from CMU’s Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, Michigan residents and non-Michigan resident freshman and transfer students in 2013-2014 were estimated to spend $1,000 in books and supplies.

Ever-rising tuition costs are adding to college goers’ financial burden.

For example, a report from the college’s Office of Institutional Research said the rate per credit hour at CMU for an in-state undergraduate went from $148 during the 2003-2004 school year to $374 during the 2013-2014 school year. The rate per hour for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year will be $385.

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With these figures increasing every year, students have been attempting to find new ways to get the necessary books for their majors for the lowest amount of money.

Since the Student Book Exchange in Mt. Pleasant closed in June, students have had one less option when buying books for the upcoming semester. The remaining more common methods amongst students include purchasing texts from the CMU Bookstore, e-books, and searching online through websites such as Amazon and Chegg.

21-year-old religion major Ali Wilson, of Mount Pleasant, said she has a very specific system for acquiring materials.

“First I go to the CMU bookstore’s website, then I compare those prices to DirectTextbook.com, which compares prices from all over the internet, including Amazon,” Wilson said. “I’m kind of strict about it.”

Bryce Huffman, 20, a journalism major from Detroit, said in the past he had bought books from the CMU bookstore that he didn’t end up using often for the class,

“My freshman year I bought a biology book. It was $100 or something crazy like that, and we only used it three times throughout the whole class [for that semester], and it was information I could have just gotten online,” Huffman said.

Huffman said his frustrations didn’t end there.

“The book was unbound, so it was just a bunch of loose papers. We couldn’t sell it back to the CMU bookstore. It was a way for CMU to rip students off,” Huffman said.

Other students, such as Mount Pleasant senior Jasmin Cotter, said they have had similar concerns with acquiring textbooks for classes.

“I’m not going to spend $300 for a book I’m going to use maybe three times,” Cotter said.

Cotter, a 22-year-old human resources major, said she used to utilize SBX but plans to buy books through the internet this semester. She said she believes she spends “probably $400 at least every semester,” on books.

Cotter said that although saving money while dealing with book costs, paying for CMU out-of-pocket, dealing with rent payments and other expenses can be difficult, she has found ways to manage.

“I don’t go out a ton and my family helps me (pay for college), but I know it’s worth it, so I have to struggle through it,” Cotter said.

Books and other included supplies like access to certain websites and CD-ROMs that are often used to increase book costs, are causing similar strains on students’ bank accounts across the country.

The National Association of College Stores published materials in 2013 saying the typical college student spends $655 on books annually. In a 2012 article the news organization U.S. News noted, however, that a single book can be priced at $300, meaning that number can easily be higher. Private four-year university students tend to shell out more.

CMU Bookstore Director Barry Waters said via email that book costs are largely dependent on the kinds of classes the individual is taking.

“The major that a student chooses has a lot of to do with the cost of their course materials,” Waters said.

Bruce Hildebrand, executive director of higher education at the Association of American Publishers told U.S. News in 2012 that developing most textbooks requires an average of three to five years, while some science tomes require more than a decade of labor.

The article said that time and effort is the reason why some e-books don’t cost much less than paper editions.

Waters said that while “Publishers are trying very hard to price students out of the physical textbook and into electronic course materials,” CMU has not had overwhelming success with digital volumes.

“Electronic texts have not been a popular option here at CMU. We have been offering electronic texts for over six years and we have never sold more than 600 units a semester,” Waters said. “That is less than one half of one percent of our total units for a given semester.”

When the Morning Sun made a survey asking readers the primary way they pay for text books and from where they plan to buy text books this semester, 22 people responded, with some explaining their thoughts on college textbooks.

When asked how they pay for books, 17 readers said they pay out of pocket and five readers said they pay for books through student loans. Out of the 22 participants, none chose the “scholarships” or “other” options.

In regards to how they intend to buy this semester’s textbooks, 17 survey participants said they plan to purchase hard copies online and have the books shipped to them, two said they plan to use traditional bookstores, two said they rent books as opposed to buying them, and one participant said they use e-books.

Some of the participants such as former CMU business management major Anthony Bragdon, shared their opinions on text book practices.

“New editions (of textbooks) are becoming a yearly thing so used books are being phased out,’ Bragdon wrote. “It is unfortunate that students are (being) hammered with the price of new books when the previous version in some cases is word for word.”

Jon Andrews, a geology research assistant at CMU from Saginaw, said he strategizes how much he’s willing to pay for books.

“For books that are directly related to my major, I always buy new,” Andrews wrote. “They are going to be a part of my collection for grad school and beyond. Outside of my major? (The) dirtiest, (most) worn out, ripped up copy available...if I even buy one.”